I'm pretty pumped for these as well, I've got a bit of OT withdraw going, so it'll be nice to build up that collection again. Looking forward to the rebels set most, and will probably wait on the Imperials just cuz the only new thing in there for me is the At-St driver. As for the U-3PO, I'm thinking I'll just paint him black or green, or maybe gold in an attempt to make the Ultimate C-3PO.

It seems some guys just lost the loving feeling toward SW's and nothing makes them happy anymore. No insult intended but I see this attitude across some boards, I do not blame them because the line still seems to be struggling to get it's footing back. My only disappointment with the line overall is the slowdown & long waits between releases for the realistic line. I am ready for new stuff...now!

Jack, no offense taken. However, it seems that right now, the things that make me happy (Big At-At, Darth Sidious, Magna Guard, a few CW figures and some of the Deluxe speeders in the CW line) seem to be outweighed by things that I already own, or simply don't interest me. Or things that I kind of like, such as these Hoth sets, but I don't have the time or burning desire to hunt them down. In a way, I've always hated exclusives, and feel that they are the ass-end of collecting. They fall into the "but it now, because you wont ever get a chance again" catagory, and I don't like feeling that way with large items.

I love this line, and I really, really want to support it. I have a wall of amazing figures that in 1995 I wouldn't have dreamed that Hasbro would actually make, but right now, there is so much re-use of molds and product, and the new character choices are so conservative, that I'm just not feeling it.

I'm really looking forward to the Defence pack, I've wanted a turret since back in the vintage days. When it came out in the UBP, I just couldn't warrant buying, with the turret being the sole reason for picking it up. Han and Luke just looked plain weird to me.

This is the release I've been waiting for... now I just hope it turns up in the UK.

I was out, and decided to see if I could figure out how easy/hard it would be to get these sets. I checked around to see how many were in stock, and since I didn't like what I was hearing I decided to act and get what I wanted now since I was out and about anyway. Got both sets, like both sets. Wish I could buy 50 (100% serious) of the Hoth Rebel and AT-ST Pilot though.

-People will definitely feel the Imperial set is the bigger value... The Rebels get a new anti-vehicle artillery piece (Radar Cannon), which is outstanding, but the Laser Artillery Tower is simplistically designed and constructed, and I can easily see people being much happier with the perceived value of the Imperial's set giving you a big assed AT-ST.

-The Hoth Rebel Trooper Variant is glorious, but goofy in a way too. He's really a great figure in every way of course... He's the Rebel Trooper we all wish we had more of since he's the basic infantry grunt and not the support gunner with the repeating blaster. Still though, his helmet is funny because hasbro cast it so the goggles are see-through, even though they're up on his hat... so, basically, you can see through his hat. That's kind of weird. He's a pretty flawless generic Rebel infantryman though, and it sucks Hasbro isn't giving us this guy on a Legends card.

-The Hoth Rebel Trooper Repaint is pretty glorious too though... All these army builders Hasbro makes are generic, yet somehow distinctive, and they could easily repaint any of them I think, and resell them to us. Hasbro gives you a standard rifle for him as well, which is the new sculpt Dak is toting around. It's a nice complement to the repeating blaster he comes with too since I know I have a lot of that gun and not enough of the basic rifle.

-The Laser Tower is indeed a simplistic large accessory, but I still love it. It's pretty right in scale, it has the opening door and hatch... It's a better paintjob than the UBP release a while back. I love it. They included a sticker for the inside of the door now too, by the way. Kind of neat, though stickers are meh to me.

-The Anti-Vehicle Gun (Radar Laser Cannon) is a 100% new sculpt, and it's NICE! Tons of detail in it, far superior to the original modern incarnation of this artillery piece. There are two flaws though. It doesn't have the tank tread bottom sculpted on it, and it doesn't tilt up/down like previous versions. That's a little disappointing. It's more accurately scaled though (a bit larger, actually), features a cool accurate sight thing on the back, the silver panels on the radar dish thing are actually sculpted an d painted now, and it even features two opening panels on the back to expose the electronics inside the main assembly of the gun.

It's a good bit better than I imagined. Add to that, that it has an ammo/power box now that connects to it with a flexible hose, and it's really cool. Even the ammo box thing is so neat I wish I had a dozen of them.

-K-3PO is the Build-A-Droid sculpt... He feels kind of flimsy, but he's not a horrible figure. IMO though, they should've added a repaint of the Variant Hoth Rebel Trooper. A blonde or black haired Trooper would've been nice, maybe with a white or dark brown scarf deco.

Either way I would've gladly taken another Hoth Rebel over K-3PO. Even an update to Riekean or Derlin would've been cooler. Maybe even a generic officer for the trenches? K-3PO was a pretty lame choice. How many versions of him are there now? What a weird figure to have so many incarnations in plastic.

-The Imperial set, again, is the one I think people will value more. The AT-ST alone makes the set really pop. It's a big, poseable, super awesome pack-in.

-The AT-ST has a sort of simpler deco than the Endor version, on one hand, but on the other hand it has added details the Endor Walker just lacks. All the gun barrels for instance are painted black, giving them some added realism for sure. There are a couple added silver details in the cockpit. The cleaner deco may appeal to some collectors more than the Endor's more dirty and grimey look.

It's molded in a lighter plastic too, giving it that added clean look to it. The darker grey spray detailing on the body stands out more on this walker as well. I think many people will want this one over their Endor version, should they only want one walker on the collection shelf.

-The Imperials are a nicer deco as well... Many people will like these Snowtroopers over the Legends figure currently available, or previous decorations of the Imperial Snowtroopers. He also sports the new more narrow stance, which is nice of course.

-The AT-ST Driver is really the only new thing in the set. He's a bit tall, features a removable helmet that's smaller than the AT-AT Commander's helmet (I think), and he too features goggles that cannot be put on him over the helmet as they should be. They're thick, and when on the head, they flare the helmet out in a goofy way.

He is a bit tall though, like I said. I'm surprised Hasbro would go to the trouble of a 100% new sculpt for a figure that they have the base already available for in the Scanner Technician. He has a ball-jointed torso, which is cool, but all they needed to do was give him new forearms for the gloved hands, and a new head, and the Scanner Technician would've been perfect.

I'd take an army of this figure though. Oh, and yes I think the straps he comes with are intended to be the seatbelts of the AT-ST "in real life", but for some reason Hasbro gave them as an accessory as part of the uniform. The weird thing is, they are in EU materials as a web-harness for backpacks and other gear, as the AT-ST driver is the basic Imperial Army Trooper's uniform/look, and the web gear is part of that. Maybe it's Hasbro throwing a little fan wank to the EU folks into that stuff, such as myself? I dig it.

-Much like K-3PO in the Rebel set, I would've probably preferred to have something OTHER than a tri-pod cannon. The E-Web gun is very overscaled compared to what it should be in the films. I can't tell if this is a 100% new item or a re-used sculpt. I'm pretty sure it's at the very least mostly re-used. Something about the handles on the back seems new to me, but I could be wrong. They replaced the accurate projectile at the gun's barrel too, which completed the previous release's gun, with a "blaster fire" projectile. This leaves the tip of the gun inaccurate, actually.

Either way though, I'd rather had another figure in place of the tri-pod gun, or some kind of equipment, or something they made up like a rocket launcher, or even a 2nd AT-ST Driver with a different hair color. *shrugs*

My final verdict though, is that both sets are pretty cool. As a Rebel fan, I'm partial to the Rebel set... As a figure/toy reviewer though, I think the Imperial set delivers the bang for the buck! The Rebel set is more like a playset, and it's simpler/less "mobile", and the big pieces may not be that exciting to many people for the $40 price. I mean, the other set has a friggin' AT-ST folded up inside it!? That's pretty slick.

Happy hunting though. These are two of the cooler modern items coming out for the line in 2010 I think.

I was out, and decided to see if I could figure out how easy/hard it would be to get these sets. I checked around to see how many were in stock, and since I didn't like what I was hearing I decided to act and get what I wanted now since I was out and about anyway.

How exactly did you do this? Did you just hoof it, or did you call up on the phones to check stock via the DCPI's? Or use that IPhone App?

I haven't been able to find any of the new exclusives on their website yet, so I can't seem to check store availability that way, ala Walmart.

Yeah, thanks for the review Jesse. I also originally just planned to pick up the Rebel set, but now you have me considering the Imperial one as well. I picked up two of the AT-STs from last year, but wouldn't mind having another, and it sounds like this one is pretty spiffy looking as well. It will all depend on the budget when the time comes, as I definitely want the new Rebel (wish they would put that on a Legends card like you said) and the Radar Laser Cannon.

Personally I don't believe this AT-ST to be flimsier... The original Endor one from last year is actually fairly unstable, if you mess with it much, and the new one isn't much different at all.

The debate of the AT-ST didn't come up here but I read it at some otheR Site's forums that were filled with the usual, "Who cares? You're an idiot for complaining about it!" type of stupidity.

Basically though, it's not even a technicality. The original AT-ST model for ESB was almost not in the film till Lucas saw it, loved it, and put it in as a scout vehicle for the larger AT-AT's. It's a completely different model than the ROTJ AT-ST's, which were redesigned a little bit.

Some people say it's just a different make/style of walker (for squeezing it into the EU). It's completely different though. THere are similarities, but significant differences from the POV of details. It's a bit taller as well, while the ROTJ design is a more squat one.

The vintage AT-ST and its re-issues are based on the ESB AT-ST, as that's when the toy was made/put out originally. The AT-ST we got at WM last year was actually the first time an accurate depiction of the Endor styled models was ever put out for figures.

Me, I'd love an accurate Hoth AT-ST, but I think Hasbro's content with this design and will forever ignore the relatively obscure ESB one, which is difficult to see in the movies by comparison.

Snagged these for myself and have to agree with Jesse on just about every point. Really miss the Rebel soldier accessory and am a little disappointed that the radar dish doesn't pivot. Really nice little set otherwise. As for the Attack set, boy howdy is that driver tall. The helmet is also less than useless. Very disappointing. I'm using an At-At commanders goggles in stead. Love that the torso easily comes apart to remove the straps. Hate the laser cannon. That will go in a not-for-use box. I think I got a good walker. The joints are all fine and the head says on better that the WM ones I have.

I'm re-thinking whether or not I'm going to spring for an additional set of each before they hit clearance. Perhaps if so much wasn't coming out all in one sitting.

I picked up two of each set on Saturday via the DCPI trick. I must say that I am very happy with these sets and plan on buying a few more of each. JJ gave a great review already so I will try to keep mine shorter.

(I actually like the Defense set a little bit better so I will admit my bias upfront.)

Defense set- The Hoth Rebels are really great while I would have prefferred another beardless one they at least redecoed the head. The Beardless head is really well done. I would have loved to have more of these to swap with Rebel Techs and other troop builders. Kudos to Hasbro for giving them each the new Dak rifle tool as well! while even tossing in a small cannon.

BTW - The clear goggles do not bother me at all. My guess is that the second head and the second helmet actually share the same tool and the bearded one. You can actually shut parts of a tool off when you do a production run. To maximize the tool and have an efficient production run it's quite common so I amm 99% sure this is the case which would explain the mold color and why they did not run the same heads for each.

- K-3P0 at first may not be as good as another Rebel but he is way better than the 2008 BP version. This mold is great, I do agree that he seems like he has a softer plastic than previous BAD parts. All proto droids should use this mold.- Turret, I agree with JJ that the deco is better than the previous one. The sticker does not bother me and appeared to be a shout to the Vintage one.- The Radar Laser was my favorite part of this set, it's so well done. I personally am not bothered by the missing pivoting action. I like the opening panels on either side plus the energy box.

Attack Set- 2 Clean Helmet Snowtroopers! Finally no Wampa dung splatter. Minor change but one paint op that always bothered me on an otherwise perfect figure. - AT-ST Driver was more than meets the eye! I thought he was built off of the Scanner tool at first glance but he truly is 100% new. The head sculpt is also really well done here and I am going to try and swap with a Hoth Trooper. Like JJ my only complaint is the goggle/helmet combo just does not work together.- E-Web Canon. I prefer the POTF2 one with the pipe/ammo box but it's still cool they packed it in.- Hoth AT-ST, I actually like this deco more than the first and it seems just as sturdy as the first EXCEPT the head/body neck connector. That does seem looser on the two I purchased.

Regardless of what you feel about these sets $39.99 is a really good value for whats in both of these sets despite some of the minor complaints. Kudos to Hasbro on these sets, I hope we see more like this with other OTC themes.